REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CI 



Towards its upper end, it gradually grows very shallow and at low 

 tide leaves a large mud tlat; at high tide the water backs up in Paper 

 Mill Creek for about 3 miles. Paper Mill Creek and Olema Creek 

 are favorite angling resorts. The two streams are much alike, but the 

 former is larger. Its banks from tide water to the source are heavily 

 wooded, keeping the water cool. The upper half has considerable fall 

 and descends over rocky cascades, but there are no places that fish can 

 not get over. There are many broad and quiet pools and places where 

 the current runs through narrow channels between the rocks; there 

 are also broad riftles where the water runs over gravelly beds. The 

 stream is. regarded as an ideal spawning-ground for the steelhead. 



None of the creeks tributary to the bay becomes dry in summer; all 

 are quickly swollen by rains, and quickly subside again. 



The reports of Messrs. Alexander and Scofield show that up to the 

 time of the discontinuance of the inquiries most of the young salmon 

 planted were still in the streams. The observations showed that some 

 of them at least had run into salt water and that they probably go 

 out at intervals in small schools. The movements of the fish in the 

 streams are regulated primarily by the food vsupply, which in its turn 

 may be aftected by temperature or rains. When the food supply grows 

 short, the young fish instinctively move downstream. In the fresh 

 water they show no tendency to congregate in schools. Their numbers 

 in any given locality are determined by how many the place will 

 accommodate and give each an equal chance to secure its food. They 

 prefer to scatter and shift for themselves. Young salmon in tide 

 water, especially those in brackish water, seem to move in schools. 



The inquiries indicated that the salmon are not preyed on by any of 

 the fish in these streams, and that the number caught by snakes and 

 birds must be very small. In the systematic seining done to obtain 

 specimens for comparison, all of the salmon taken were strong and 

 robust, and apparently no place could have been better suited to their 

 development. The few fish taken in salt water were healthy-looking 

 and had been eating young smelt; there are large quantities of young 

 smelt in the bay, which would probably form suitable food for the 

 salmon, and are of a size adapted to their needs. 



Before the planting of the young salmon, there were no fish of this 

 species in these streams. This fact, combined with the circumstance 

 that they have done so well, makes it an exceptionally fine opportunity 

 to determine how long such fish will remain in the streams. A person 

 stationed at Olema can easily observe the salmon in the streams 

 named from their source to salt water. To get the best results, obser- 

 vations should be carried on at least a year. By engaging the services 

 of some of the fishermen, and attaching a minnow-seine to the center 

 of their nets, young salmon can be collected in the bay at intervals 

 and many of their habits in salt water learned. 



